Occupy Boston Summit
Watch this space for updated information.
Download the flyer and spread the word!
Occupy Boston Summit
Saturday, November 19, 2011
2pm - 6pm
Josiah Quincy Elementary School
885 Washington Street in Chinatown
15 minute walk from Dewey Square,
or 11 minute walk from Downtown Crossing Red Line stop,
or Orange Line to Tufts Med. Ctr.
Original Call for Occupy Boston Summit:
Date: November 8, 2011
Subject: Call for an Occupy Boston Summit Nov.19
Hello Occupiers,
There have been many conversations in various working groups recently about the challenges facing our Occupy Boston community, especially as winter approaches. There seems to be a general feeling that we are at a critical moment, a moment when we need to ask ourselves some key questions about how to make the Boston branch of the Occupy movement sustainable, so that we can continue to have space to address the widening inequality in our society.
In light of this, many of us have been discussing the idea of gathering our community for an "Occupy Boston Summit" to address some of these key questions about where we are headed. It would not be a GA or a decision making session, but rather a community-wide discussion of the challenges and opportunities we face. It is a chance bring together camp residents, working group members, and anyone else who identifies as part of Occupy Boston to share ideas about how to make this movement strong and sustainable.
This idea has been discussed over the past few days by many people active with Occupy Boston: Mariama White-Hammond, Susie Husted, Alex Ingram, Nicole Sullivan, Noah McKenna, Katie Gradowski, Chris Williams, Carl Williams, Bhavin Patel, Angela Giudice, Allison Nevitt, Greg Murphy, and others in Facilitation and Anti-Oppression. All together, these folks are active with a cross-section of the working groups: Outreach, Media, Women's Caucus, Anti-Oppression, People of Color, Queer/Trans Caucus, Media, Facilitation, Ideas, Direct Action, Community Organizations, Social, Financial Accountability, and Legal. There is broad support for convening a summit as a "meeting of the minds" to harvest the collective wisdom of our OB community and to think creatively about our future.
I have connected with some skilled facilitators from the Interaction Institute for Social Change who are trained in some innovative techniques for helping large groups address challenges and opportunities in a strategic way. They have volunteered to facilitate a summit on Saturday, November 19, from 2-6pm. A couple of us are looking for an indoor space close to Dewey Square that we could use for this gathering.
As I am one of the many people helping to get this ball rolling, please feel free to be in contact with me about it. Any contributions to make this a positive event for our community are welcome. A flyer including the location is coming soon. Please spread the word!
In solidarty
Maureen White